Page 25 of The Pregnant Wolf Omega Next Door

“Yeah?” Zenith grinned. “Did he share his dessert with you?”

“He did. He would get an extra-large slice of cake or pie, so when I climbed onto his lap, he could eat some before I finished the entire slice.”

Zenith chuckled. “He sounds like a great dad.”

“He was.”

They fell into a companionable silence, filled by Abbie clamping her jaws around a squeaky duck toy and shaking it around.

Zenith melted. “Aww, she’s adorable.”

“She’s a fierce little pup,” Emre said, his heart full.

When the timer rang, Zenith reluctantly looked away from Abbie, pulling the honey oat cookies from the oven. He set them on the table so Emre could transfer them to the cooling rack. “Is it okay if I move Abbie out of the cart? I want full access to Buttwheel, which means emptying its cargo basket so I can tip it over.”

“Sure, I can hold her for a while,” Emre said. He held his breath as Zenith gently scooped Abbie into his arms and handed her over; Abbie yipped and squirmed, sniffing at Emre.

Zenith moved Abbie’s things onto the couch, then grabbed a toolbox from under the sink and beckoned Buttwheel over. “Hey, buddy. I’m going to take a look at your bum wheel. See if I can fix it up. Stay still for me, okay?”

Buttwheel lifted its flap and went still, sweet as an innocent child. Zenith sat next to it, curling his fingers around the cart’s steel frame.

Emre forgot about the cookies. He was entranced by the way Zenith inspected the shopping cart, careful and earnest as though he were handling an injured animal.

“Okay, I think I know what’s going on. Here.” Zenith laid Buttwheel on its side, using a wrench to unbend some twisted metal. His biceps flexed. He unscrewed the affected wheel and set it aside. “Emre, could you get me some paper towels?”

Emre tore off a few sheets and handed them over. Zenith wiped down the wheel components, carefully putting them back together. When he was satisfied, he did the same for the other three wheels, before setting Buttwheel upright.

“Roll back and forth,” Zenith said. “See if you move better now.”

The cart rocked forward and back, without a single wheel getting stuck. Emre was so thankful that his throat closed up a little.

Buttwheel made several excited squeaky sounds, bumping up against Zenith.

Zenith grinned and turned to Emre. “I did good, huh?”

“Yeah, you did. Thanks. That was really nice of you.” Emre’s heart swelled.

“Just doing my part to help.” Zenith put away his toolkit and went to scrub his hands at the sink. Only then did Emre remember the cookies he was supposed to transfer to the cooling rack.

He was so focused on not drooling over Zenith’s strong shoulders, that he jumped when the alpha stopped across the table from him.

“So,” Zenith said, a tiny smile tugging on his lips. He looked just a little bashful, which made Emre’s senses tingle.

“So...?”

“Want to talk about last night?”

Emre stopped breathing. He wasn’t prepared forthatconversation.How do I get out of this?The longer he stuck around, the more likely he was to embarrass himself.

Abbie saved him.

With a whine and a wriggle, she turned to Zenith—only to give a smoky belch, a tiny ball of flame bursting from her mouth.

7

MY PUP BREATHES FIRE?!

All of them froze.